Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Parker Stands Out, Godchaux Re-Ups and More from New England Patriots Training Camp

Episode Date: July 30, 2022

As the first week of New England Patriots 2022 training camp draws to a close, some of the team’s most prominent storylines are beginning to take shape. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com, as the duo discuss the emergence of wide receiver DeVante Parker as a red zone threat, defensive lineman Davon Godchaux’s contract extension and Matt Patricia taking on the majority of the play-calling duties.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New England Patriots training camp trolls along. Parker is starting to pop and got Chow in the fold for a long term. What does it mean for the New England Patriots moving forward? We discussed that today and more. Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. We'll be right back. on all platforms. So download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your audio podcasts and smash that subscribe button on YouTube. Welcome back to the pod, folks. My name is Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots. And also you can interact with me. Let me know what's on your mind at MDABATENFL.

And Patriots training camp continues to move along on the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Here today to help me break down some of the highlighted storylines in Patriots training camp so far is our resident voice of reason. He is a columnist extraordinaire from batsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of not just one, but two amazing podcasts, Patriots 4th and 2, alongside Derek Havens and Russ Goldman, and, of course, one Patriots place, alongside a very good friend of the program,

Thomas, the Count of Murphy, Fisto Murphy, and of course, Claire Classey, Claire Cooper. He is my Patriots bison. Steve Balistrieri joins me today. Welcome back to the pod, my friend. Thanks, Mike. Actually, I'm joining you from the recliner today, not the desk. So I'm already in weekend mode.

I'm hitting weekend mode a little early. You got to love weekend mode. And you know what? You know who's not in weekend mode. I'm hitting weekend mode a little early. You got to love weekend mode. And you know what? You know who's not in weekend mode, though? Your New England Patriots. Our New England Patriots, folks. They continue to hit the practice fields each and every day.

Training camp opening on Wednesday. Three practices in the book, Steve, as we are recording this. And there have been a number of storylines, a number of standout performances for the New England Patriots thus far. I've been boots on the ground covering for Locked On and for Sports Illustrated. And the one thing that is just continuously the theme with this team right now is camaraderie. You really sense a like between the coaching staff, the players, a cohesiveness that I don't know if we necessarily saw last year. I think there was a lot of uncertainty still a lot of new faces a lot of moving parts I think this year you're starting to

see these guys come together and it's really showing on the field a couple in particular storylines that we'll talk about today folks Devontae Parker really starting to pop as a potential big-time option for the Patriots in the passing game he's developing a great synergy with Mac Jones and of course it all comes down to offensive play calling everybody was up in arms a potential big-time option for the Patriots in the passing game. He's developing a great synergy with Mack Jones. And, of course, it all comes down to offensive play calling. Everybody was up in arms a couple of weeks ago when the Patriots announced their coaching staff titles. But who's taking the lion's share of that play calling duty?

Steve and I are going to discuss that in just a moment. But, Steve, one of the big surprises of the week was the New England Patriots signing Devon godchouts with two-year extension um really taking that level of what he signed for last year and investing even more capital investing even more time into him essentially committing to him for I don't want to say the long term but the semi-long term for the life of a defensive lineman in this league. The Patriots are clearly happy with the output that he put on the field last year, but you look at the statistics and you say the Patriots were not very adept at being able to stop the run. They still had their difficulties last year.

Bill Belichick goes on record when we talked to him earlier and said that, you know, the problems that the Patriots had with the run last year should not be put on Devon Godchow's shoulders and call them one of the best defensive linemen in the league. When you look at this extension, first of all, what was your reaction to the extension? And second of all, what does this mean for the middle of the Patriots defense? Well, I think that, like you said, first of all, I think they're committing to Godchow. Obviously, a lot of people have him being cut this year. So he's going to be here probably for the next three years, minimum. And, you know, he's only 27, so he's still a young man.

And, you know, I think they like what they see you know with him and and bar more i think that's going to be the future of their interior line at least for the next couple of years and uh i think it's a good move i you know as much as i like lawrence guy i thought he wasn't his usual consistent self last year um that's a good point you know i didn't think godchild was perfectly suited to be a nose tackle but i think if you use him as an interior defensive lineman like a just a uh a defensive tackle not lined up right over the nose i think he he's very very good at that as an early down guy. He's not a great pass rusher, but those big dudes in the middle usually aren't. You know, when I look at a guy like him, I just think, you know,

and then Bill talking the way he did and the players that they have, we could see more 4-3 this year. Yeah, I definitely, definitely can see that this year, and I think we will see that. Look, the argument I think is valid about Godchow and some of the inconsistencies that we saw last year. Naturally, fans are going to look to that. They're going to look to the output.

They're going to look to the snap counts. They're going to look to his stat totals at the end of the year. And they're going to say, well, he underwhelmed. I think something that's not said enough about Godchild last year is that some of the difficulty that he had really defining his role came from the fact that the Patriots kept redefining his role. You kept seeing him kind of change alignments throughout the season. He really couldn't find the consistency that he needed, I think, to be the effective defensive lineman that the Patriots thought that they were getting. This year, you're seeing him line up more in the four technique

while mixing in some five, some three in there as well. That's how we're watching him now in this training camp over these past three days. It's a small sample size, folks. I get it, but you do get a chance to see a little bit of what the Patriots might be doing and how they're this training camp over these past three days. It's a small sample size, folks. I get it. But you do get a chance to see a little bit of what the Patriots might be doing and how they're going to deploy these guys. So at this point, if they do continue to do that, I think Gottschall is more likely to maybe command a double team or two this year. And if that's the case, and we've talked about this with Christian Barmore before, when you have linemen that are consistently drawing two guys on them, that's going to free up the linebackers. It's going to free up the edge rushers.

It's going to keep opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable. Also, what it does is it allows you to be able to get guys up front to be able to stop the run. And that's where some of the middle linebackers can come into play. So I like the move with Godchow. I know a lot of people are looking at it from a perspective that the Patriots are giving money to maybe someone that doesn't deserve it. I mean, I've heard that. And I've heard that rumbling. I think that's absolutely ridiculous. I think Devon definitely deserves what he got. The Patriots are not in the habit of just handing out money to guys that they

like. They're going to hand out money to guys that they think can be productive in their system. And look, he's got a $10.5 million signing bonus with this extension. His 2022 salary is now going to be $1.5 million, and his cap number is lowered from $8.75 million. That's what it's going to be right now. It was $10.25 million. So the team now frees up three million approximately three million in cap space this could be a harbinger of things to come maybe the patriots dip their toe in or maybe they use it for operating costs this year but regardless of what the patriots are committing to this guy and i think it's i don't necessarily think it's a bad move no no not at all i i uh you know i think it's a bad move. No, no, not at all. I, you know, I think it's a good move. I think they're setting themselves up, like I said, for the foreseeable future.

And they obviously like him. The comments I saw yesterday from some of the fans about Bill's defensive prowess were just comical. Like, oh, Bill doesn't know what he's talking about. Okay. You know, Joe the plumber knows more about coaching defense than, you know, the guy whose game plan is in the NFL's Hall of Fame. Right. That goes with the territory.

You know, that's what life is like in Boston sports. Absolutely. But, you know, I like Godchow. I thought, you know, I read something yesterday. I think it was from PFF. The last eight games of the year, he was very, very highly rated as a run defender last year. So check those.

I think PFF had that on their Twitter account, but definitely check that out because I think he did the job. And obviously Bill saw that. And I, hey, I liked the fact that they're going to keep him around and we'll see if any of these younger guys can step up. Absolutely, and that is a big key in the Patriots moving forward is players stepping up and stepping into roles that maybe weren't filled last year.

We're going to discuss one of those players in just a moment because Steve and I are going to flip the script, not Claire-style flip the script like we did yesterday here on Locked On Patriots, but we're going to flip it up a little bit and talk about the offense and a new addition to the Patriots wide receiver core that's truly endearing himself, not just to his teammates, but also the crowd in attendance. The pop for this guy, Steve, is phenomenal. We're going to talk some Devontae Parker when this weekend episode of the Locked On Patriots

podcast continues. But first, level with me, folks. We've all been in a situation at some point in our lives when we were a little tight on cash. Maybe you could only afford to put a few gallons of gas in your tank, or you've got another save the date, and you're wondering how you're going to be able to afford another gift. That's where Dave can help. Dave is the banking app that can help you get up

to $500 instantly with extra cash. That's more money to fill your tank, buy a wedding gift, or catch up on bills. You can finally tackle those expenses that have been stressing you out without any hangups. There's no interest and no credit check needed. Millions of people have already downloaded the Dave app to get the financial relief they need with extra cash. So if you're in a pinch and you need some extra help, download Dave and think of it as a helping hand from future you. Download the Dave app today on the app store right now. That's D-A-V-E. Sign up for an extra cash account and get up to $500 instantly. For terms and conditions, go to dave.com slash legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided

by Evolve member FDIC. That's Dave. Future you will thank you. Patriots fans, we are joined by columnist extraordinaire and our Patriots paisan here on Locked On Patriots, the great Steve Balistrieri of patsfans.com.

Steve, several New England Patriots are getting a little bit of extra hype. We always see this every time this year. Early in training camp, a player makes a move or two, they make a play or two, and all of a sudden, they're being called the next camp darling. Mini camp, we saw it happen with Trey Nixon. That's come down to earth a little bit.

The guy that's a hot name right now on the defensive side of the ball is second year safety Joshua Bledsoe. Cornerback Terrence Mitchell also getting a little buzz, but very few newcomers are generating the buzz like wide receiver Devontae Parker. And I think people could see this coming. Parker was one of the Patriots' more high-profile acquisitions in the offseason. comes in with a pretty good name, seeing Parker a couple of times a year, lining up with the Miami Dolphins. Patriots fans thought they had a pretty good idea of what this kid could do.

But coming in, two things have really stood out to me watching him in training camp these last few days. One, he plays with a confidence and a swagger, but an ability that really allows him to blend both very well. And he does it very well. He plays his assignment as assigned. He knows the breaks. He knows the defensive tendencies of this team from having played against them. Because of it, I think he's showing a lot of what he can do on offense. The second thing I'm seeing is a real synergy with Mac Jones.

He really looks like he's very comfortable with Mac. These two look like they're in step right off the bat. That's a big key for a New England Patriots receiver. We've seen so many talented receivers come here and not be able to get on the same page with the quarterback when Tom was running the show. Even the last couple of years, it's been difficult getting on the same page with Mack and Cam the year before that. But these two guys are really starting to click on offense. When you look at Parker and you look at what he can bring to the table, are you surprised he's taking to the offense this quickly?

No, not at all. I think when he's healthy, we've seen firsthand what he can do on the field. I mean, you remember he took Stephon Gilmore to school, basically, you know, and that's one of the better cornerbacks in the league. At the time, he might have been the best cornerback in the league. So when Parker is healthy, I think he's very, very talented. So that part of it, we know he's capable. It's just can he stay healthy?

The fact that him and Mac are clicking this early, I think is huge positive. You know, those two got together a couple of times in the offseason, and it looks like it's paying dividends. So I think that's fantastic. It gives him another weapon. Basically, you know, I hate to throw dirt on the corpse here, but he's going to be the guy that they thought they were drafting when they drafted Nikhil Harry.

You know, that big, physical, wide receiver that can go up and catch those contested passes. And the fact that they've been focusing so much on red zone and down around the goal line early in camp tells you that they're trying to work

out the kinks of that system. And I think that Parker is primed, again, with the caveat that he can stay healthy. I think he's primed to have a really, really solid season. I think so, too. And from what we're seeing in Parker, I'm glad you mentioned the red zone, because that really is the theme of the early days of training camp. It was the same thing last year. Bill came right out and said, look, until the pads go on, this is going to be primarily red zone work all week long. That's been the case the first three days. That'll continue into Saturday. Monday, the full pads

come on. So, you know, then we're going to start to see things get mixed up a little bit. Then you're really going to see some football, folks. But right now, some of the drills that they're utilizing, Patriots practiced on Friday in shells and shorts. Looks like it's going to be the same thing on Saturday. So keep an eye on that, folks, if you're heading to the stadium to watch the team. But bottom line, Parker is a force in that red zone. And this is something that when he was brought aboard, we talked about this. Murph and I talked about this.

We've talked a little bit about what he can do in the red zone and giving Mac that target and we've also talked about him utilizing the tight ends which Mac is also doing very well that'll be a question for uh for another day Claire and I talked a little bit of tight ended yesterday and right after we were done recording sure enough Hunter Henry and John O'S Smith go off and have their best day. And then on Friday, they really followed it up with a big time day for the both of them. But Parker has been very consistent. He's been making excellent catches.

And he looks really enthused and really happy to be in New England. That may seem like an irrelevant point to a lot of people. But I'm telling you, it really does feed off. Speaking to, you know, Devante, you know, the members of the media did yesterday after practice, he just, he has a smile on his face. He looked very engaged. He looked like someone that is really happy to be a part of this team, but really happy to be a part of this fan base as well. And he mentioned that in his first press meeting via zoom conference right after he was acquired that this is a fan base he's kept an eye on for a good long time when Devante has made some of the better plays and he really had the catch of the day and opening day

and also on Thursday he got up pumping up the crowd and you can really see him enjoy himself so that's good to see and I think that's going to continue in the synergy that he's developing with Mac Jones. So great stuff from Devontae Parker. We look forward to that continuing. And if the Patriots can figure things out in the red zone, which is typically where they've struggled to put the ball in the end zone and put points on the board, this could be a better offense than people were giving it credit for, Steve. Dare I even say that?

Yeah, I mean, you know, looking at the team, I know there are question marks, but I'm not worried about the offense this year. I really like the additions that they've added, and I think if they can stay healthy, that's always a big thing with any team, staying healthy through the rigors of the season. I think they're going to put some points on the board because I think Mac Jones is going to take a really big leap in year two. And these guys, the other guys, I know Parker's brand new,

but Aguilar, Kendrick Bourne, you mentioned Smith and Henry. They were all in their second year now. Now, you know, you can see that the early days of camp, they're not trying to figure things out. They already know, excuse me, the system. And now they're just going out and playing the way they're capable of it. I know Jono had a big day today. Yeah, absolutely. He did the leaping grab over Kyle Duggar,

which brought the crowd to its feet in unison in Foxborough. And you're glad to see it. Another guy that really is that prototypical move tight end. That can be a real threat in the red zone. You're starting to see that come from Jono. Look for big things from him this year as well. And you mentioned Nelson. He's looked good.

He had a great catch the other day, arguably the catch of the day. He and Parker really, I think, went neck and neck for catch of the day and opening day, and Kendrick has been solid right along. I think he's always going to be a favorite of Mack, and if you can start utilizing these pass catchers, along with guys like Stevenson and Harris in the running game, all of a sudden you have a very diverse offense capable of beating you in a lot of ways. Maybe not the marquee name up at the top that all the national pundits love to utilize and throw in your face that the Patriots don't have a number one,

they don't have a WR1. They got a lot of good wrs on this roster that can really help to fill that void so i don't think they had a wr1 and six super bowl win no they really didn't i mean you you take a look i mean naturally you hear the word wr1 the first name that pops inside my head is randy moss and unfortunately in the year they couldn't get the job done and that's no fault of randy's folks talking one of the most dynamic talents I've ever watched in my entire life. But it's not a requirement in terms of being able to put together a winning team, especially with the way the Patriots do business. So we'll see what happens. It's not that we don't want one, but it's just I think a lot of times some of the fans get a little bit too overvalued in having that name. And you can lose a lot in the translation. We're seeing that this year and that the diversity in this offense may be something that the Patriots are able to utilize their advantage and really turn some heads doing it. Steve, the cess of the offense is up to the players, but it's also up to the guys calling the plays.

And that's been the buzzword in New England all offseason long. Who is calling the offensive plays in New England? Is it Matt Patricia? Is it Joe Judge? Is it Nick Haley? Is it Bill Belichick himself? From what we've seen in the first few days, folks, looks like it actually might be a collaborative effort, all four of those guys.

That's right. So many cooks in the kitchen, or is it just right in terms of the Patriots adding in as much flavor as they can to this new look offense in 2022? Steve and I will discuss the Patriots play calling when we wrap up this weekend episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. But first, training camp is here, folks. Summer is here. The temperatures are hot.

You're out. You're ready to go. And if you're on your way to training camp, you want to make sure that you're fueled to cheer on your favorite team. And if you need some food on the go to do so, go to our good friends at Spilt Bars are the perfect snack to take with you on family vacations, up to training camp, wherever you might be going.

Throw them in your bags, in your kids' backpacks. Make sure that everyone has a bar so you are fueled for all of your summer adventures. The best part about Built Bar, folks, is that they're healthy and delicious. No longer do you have to sacrifice delicious food for health. With Built Bar, you can have both. And it's easy. All you have to do is go to Built.com and order your products now. All Built Bars, all Built Puffs are covered in 100% real chocolate.

That means with Built Bar, you can eat healthy, and you can actually enjoy doing it. So don't dilute it today. Go to Built.com and enter the promo code LOCK15 for 15% off your next order. That's promo code LOCK15 at Bilt.com. Patriots fans, we're going to take you home here on this weekend episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast, joined as always by my good friend, my Patriots bison, the great Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com. And Steve, we've talked about a defensive lineman getting an extension.

We've talked about a wide receiver popping from the rest and really endearing himself to the Foxborough faithful. But if we're being honest, the big buzzword around New England has been the play calling of Matt Patricia. Whether or not Matt is going to be the offensive play caller, is it going to be Joe Judge shipping in? Is Bill Belichick going to be the all play caller? Is it going to be Joe Judge shipping in? Is Bill Belichick going to be the all overseeing guru? Is tight ends coach Nick Caley going to dip his toe into, you know, the pool a little bit and try his hand at some play calling? For the most part, in the last couple of days, it's been Matt Patricia calling the plays. He's had the walkie talkie. He's been, you know, relay relaying this information he's been very intricately involved in

the huddle working very closely with mac very closely with the offensive line so you're starting to see that come forward and it's looking likely that patricia is going to take a lion's share of the uh the response but on friday a little wrinkle got thrown into the plans where during 11 on 11s we saw bill belichick with the play sheet in his hand and before every snap whether it was mac jones or whether it was the rookie bailey zappy because brian hoyer did not participate in friday's practice they went over to bill bill's talking to them he's showing them the plays and then they'd go back into the huddle and they'd execute and all of a

sudden now you're seeing social media flooded with well maybe it's going to be bill belichick after all maybe the evil genius is pulling the strings maybe he's the all-knowing godfather behind the scenes you know uh so you know i want to be the one to hold the strings so this that could be that's probably bill you know that's probably bill talking to matt you know man i want to join to be the one to hold the string um sorry folks yeah rest in peace now he really may rest in peace god rest in peace uh uh the uh the great the great james connison pinacolion but steve before we wrap things up here, when you look at the play calling of the New England Patriots, is a collaborative effort the best way to go this year?

Meaning Patricia, Judge, maybe a little bit of Kaylee, but Belichick with the overarching responsibilities? Well, you know, I think it's going to be patricia now i'm pretty convinced it's going to be him i think they're just working on things to see how their communication flows with everybody and and i think bill is doing it for two reasons today i think he likes messing with people's heads and and I I think it's probably a little bit of you know getting inside the huddles so to speak you know maybe that's where he's looking at how guys are prepared and you know seeing how well they they fit into the system see if the how they pick things up from him you know he might be throwing a little bit of wrinkles in there, seeing, you know, how they react to it.

But we know Bill loves messing with people. But I do think it's going to be Matt Patricia, because I think if you're constantly flipping things around, it tends to create some confusion. And I don't think they're going to do that i mean you know if one of any of them sees something i'm sure they'll talk about it but um i think it's going to be mad yeah i think it's going to be mad as well and look not only because i agree with you that i think bill likes to throw a wrench into the plans every now and then just to kind of muddy the waters, but also because we've talked to several offensive linemen this

week, Trent Brown, Cole Strange. You've heard their opinion on Matt Patricia's pension for his knowing the defensive reaction to things, and I think that's one of the things that may give him the heads up or maybe a leg up on the competition. Joe Judge is a very hands-on, very vocal coach. You can hear him out there barking a lot of different, I say barking, I don't mean, it's not disrespectful or anything like that, but you can hear him being very vocal with the receivers or quarterbacks about missing holes, missing assignments,

where they need to be. He's very good and very hands-on in that method. But Matt Patricia, I think, takes a level-headed approach because he sees things from both sides. He's played offensive line. He's coached offensive line. But he's been a leader a lot longer, and he's done that job very well, despite of what some people may tell you patricia did a serviceable job here as a uh a defensive coordinator so he sees the things from both sides and i think that's where bill belichick understands his value as a potential play caller this year that being said i do think judge is going to have some input i think kaylee's going to have a little bit of input john smith had glowing things to say about him after practice. But ultimately, I do think the play calling responsibilities are going to be with Matt Patricia. So to bring it all home,

Steve, and if we're looking at the Patriots play calling hierarchy, if we're looking for that chart, you know, the chart in Godfather 2 where they had all those guys in the hierarchy and the crime families and the capos and the soldiers know the soldiers I would say Matt Patricia is probably going to be your Michael Corleone of play calling he's going to be in charge but if he ever needs help who's a better consigliere than Bill Belichick perfectly said my man perfectly said no and the thing is you know a lot of what we heard this spring well neither one of them have called plays before well matty p has called plays just on the defensive side right so and you know matt talked about that on day one i watched that press conference and absolutely you know he said you know he's he's given me that different perspective right and trent brown i think said the same thing where he's

he's giving it to him how defenses want to play. And this is how we're going to react to it. So until we see it on the field and if I don't see any miscommunications or guys lined up in the wrong place. You know what I mean? I don't have one thing bad to say about it because he's been there, he's done that. He's been a head coach. Absolutely. And that's something as well that I think is maybe not said enough about Matt Patricia in that to be a head coach in this league, there has to be a certain prowess, a certain command that you have on both sides of the ball.

And whether you agree that he was a very good head coach or a mediocre head coach or a poor head coach, he's still a head coach and he knows how to play both sides of the ball and knows the value of both sides of the ball. So I agree with you. And I think that his perspective gives him the leg up on the competition, but it is interesting to see Bill out there. And I think Bill is going to have a good hand in the offense this year. And I think you're already seeing that. We're seeing him spending a lot more time with the offense than the defense.

That really happened in minicamp. And we're continuing to see it in training camp, Steve. So we'll continue to keep our sharp eye, folks, on Foxborough and on the Patriots play calling situation. But in the meantime, I have to thank my good friend, my Patriots Paisan, for always being there for the handoff when I need him. Steve, it's always great to get your wisdom and counsel, and I thank you for joining me here today on the pod. Again, folks, you want to follow him on Twitter at Steve7SFG. Definitely check out all the great work that he does for PatsFans.com.

His Sunday column I liken to the Sunday paper. When it arrives, I know I'm going to be well-informed and well-entertained when it comes to the New England Patriots. I did steal that Sunday paper line from my good friend Murph, so he's yelling at something right now going, hey, that's my line. Tip my cap to you, Don Murph. That was your line. All kidding aside, Steve, thank you so much for joining me today, my friend.

Oh, my pleasure, as always. Anytime. Absolutely, folks. And always look forward to you joining us here on Locked On, a proud part of the Locked On Network. Now that you've made us your first listen, folks, go out and make your second listen. Locked On NFL, all the great hosts that we have across the network, joining forces to bring you the latest and greatest information from the

national side of the national football league. In the meantime, please continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Folks on behalf of the great Steve Balistrieri, I'm Mike debate. Have a great day,

everyone. And enjoy Patriots training camp. Go Pats.